M.M. Competency Exam

M.M. Music History Competency Examination

Format and Study Tips

All Master of Music students entering NEC are required to pass the Graduate Music History Competency Examination in partial fulfillment of their degree requirements. (Graduate Diploma and D.M.A. students do not take the exam.)

The exam will be administered on campus during the first week of orientation. Students will receive assigned times for this exam in their Orientation Packets.

The exam is designed to test basic music history competency on the level of an Undergraduate Music History Survey course. Students who do not pass the exam in August may take the exam one additional time. Those who do not pass the second attempt must take the one-semester Remedial Music History Survey for zero credit in the subsequent semester.

Before the test

Students will be assigned a testing time by the Office of Student Services which can be found in your Orientation Packet.

The test will take place in the Computer Lab and in the Music Technology room in the basement of the St. Botolph building.

Hard-copy dictionaries only may be used (electronic dictionaries will not be allowed), subject to inspection by proctors.

Exam format

The exam will be a computer-based test, with multiple-choice questions (4 answer choices per question, with only one correct choice).

Students must score 60% or better in order to pass.

Students may choose between 2 tests:Test A (Classical repertoire 90%; Jazz/World music 10%)Test B (Jazz music 50%; World music 5%; Classical repertoire 45%)

Both tests will have questions from the following seven categories of repertoire:Five from the Western classical tradition (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, 19th century, 20th century)Two categories from outside of the Western classical tradition (Jazz and World Music)

The difference between tests A and B is in the way that these categories are proportioned.

Students are free to choose which test they want to take irrespective of their major.

Students may take only one of the offered tests (Test A OR Test B).

After the test: results

Students will be notified of their test results by the Office of Student Services.

Students who fail the test will be required to take the Graduate Music History Remedial Survey (zero credit).

Preparing for the Exam: Study tips and materials

Questions on these tests are drawn from the following sources. If you are familiar with the information in these basic texts, you should be well prepared to pass the exam. Keep in mind that this is a music history exam. Familiarity with the sound and sight of the music is essential to understanding historical developments in musical style.

A "standard." The narrative of A History of Western Music naturally focuses on the musical works, styles, genres, and ideas that have proven most influential, enduring, and significant—but it also encompasses a wide range of music, from religious to secular, from serious to humorous, from art music to popular music, and from Europe to the Americas.

Focus on the following issues for each of the Western music historical periods:

preferred instruments and ensembles (vocal and instrumental)\

characteristic genres and forms

defining features of the various genres and forms

representative works

representative composers and their approximate dates (early, mid, late century)